Fire-arm



(No Model.)

L. A. STAVE.

FIRE ARM PatenteQ-Jun 7, 1887.

' UNITED STATES PATENT Orrics.

LEWVIS A. STAVE, OF CHICAGO, ASSIGNOR OF FIVEFIGI-ITHS TO ANDRINV B. SPURLING, OF ELGIN, ILLINOIS.

FIRE- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 364,446, dated June '7, 1887.

Application filed October 10, 1885. Serial No. 179,460. (No model.)

T at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LEWIS A. Suva, a citizen of the United States, residing in Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire-Arms, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvementsin fire-arms in which a supplemental barrel has IO its breech opened and closed by a sliding of its barrel upon the main barrel, and in which the firing mechanism is connected with and actuated by the firing mechanism of the main barrel, all as set forth in Letters Patent No.

234,213, granted me September 14, 1880.

The prime object of this invention is to dispense with any mechanical connection between the firing mechanism of the main barrel and a supplemental barrel, and to have the trigger of the supplemental barrel at a point forward of the trigger of the main barrel in a convenient position formanipulation without marring the effects of the gun, and to attain these objects by devices which may be conveniently attached to any ordinary breech-loading firearm.

A further object is to have the breeclrpiece of the supplemental barrel constructed in such a manner that it is adapted to carry the firing 3o mechanism and to be conveniently attached to the stock of an ordinary breech-loading firearm, to have a connection between said sup- 'plemental breech and the sliding barrel inde pendent of and outside of the plane'of the main barrel, and likewise between the sliding barrel and main barrel, whereby the longitudinal groove of the main barrel is dispensed with, and, finally, to have several parts for actuating and firing the supplemental sliding barrel 4o constructed and arranged so as to promote their simplicity of construction and convenienee of manipulation, all as hereinafter described, and shown in the accompanying d rawings, in which Figure 1 represents a detail side elevation of a fire-arm embodying my invention; Fig.

2, a similar view,with the breech of a supple mental sliding barrel in a partly-open condition; Fig. 3, a bottom plan view of the same;

Fig, 4, a detail longitudinal section of the sup 5o plemental barrel and its firing mechanism with the trigger and its actuating-spring shown partly in side elevation; Fig. 5,a side elevation of a modification of the lever-connection between the sliding connection and its breech, and of the device for settingthe firing-pin and the trigger, and also of the trigger; Fig. 6, a bottom plan view of the same.

Similar letters of referenceindicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawing.

The stock A, the locking mechanism B,and the main barrel C of the firearm may be of the ordinary construction common to breechloading fire-arms, whether rifles or single or double barreled shotguns. On the forward end of the stock A is secured, in any convenient manner, as by set-screws,a plate, rawhich is the end piece, and arigid part of a tubular butt-piece, b, which, toward its forward end, is, by a dovetail block, a, secured to the main barrel 0 of the gun.

At suitable intervals of the main barrcl,and by dovetail projections d, are secured eyes 6, forming guides and bearings for the supplemental barrel f to slide in, which barrel may be rifled when attached to a shotgun or rifle, or, if desired, be a shotgun-barrel when attached to the latter, though in practice it is designed to be a ride-barrel of small bore.

Pivoted on the block 0, or to the tubular breech, is a hand-lever, 9, connected at a point between its extremities with the sliding barrel by link h, and in such a manner that when the breech of the supplem cntal barrel is closed the free end of the lever will lie at a point intermediate the main and supplemental barrels, as shown at Fig. 1, and when swung downwardly from this position, as shown in Fig. 2, will actuate and expose the breech of the supplemental barrel to such an extent that when the lever is swung to the limit of its forward stroke said barrel will be in position to receive or discharge a shell or cartridge.

The forward end of the tubular butt-piece is closed by a butt block or plug, 1', preferably screwed into the butt-piece, but may be secured in any other desired manner and provided with a perforation, i, constituting a pas sage for the firing-pin j,proj ected therethrough to explode the cap of the shell in the sliding barrel when in its operative position.

The under side of the tubular butt-piece is provided with an elongated slot, 70, over which works a sliding catch-piece, Z, rigidly connected with the firing-pin by a projection or stud, m, said catch-piece and the firing-pin belug actuated to propel the firing-pin forward to explode the cap of the shell by a spring, a, confined between the lug m and the plate a,and coiled about a rearwardly-projecting end of the firing-pin, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

Pivoted midway of its length on the stock A, toward the forward end of said stock and in a plane parallel with the length thereof, is a trigger, 0, provided at its forward end with a catch or projection, 19, adapted to engage a similar projection, p, on the catch-piece Z, and actuated by an expansion-spring, q, seated in the stock and bearing against the inner face of the trigger, so as to automatically lock it with the catch-piece when the firing-pin is retracted and set for exploding a cap.

In practice it. is proposed to have the trig ger so set in the stock that it shall not project outsid thereof, and hence not liable to catch upon the clothing or anything else so as to cause an accidental firing of the supplemental bartel or injury to any of its supplemental par s. i

On the forward end'of the tubular butt-- piece. is secured a shell extractor, r, which projects over the butt bloclr, the barrel being beveled or notched for this purpose, and the shank of the extractor is of spring metal, so that, the extractor may yield sufficiently to pass over the flange of the shell and catch upon the inner side thereof as the sliding barrel is being seated against the, butt-block.

In operation the barrel is thrown open by swinging the lever g' downwardly from the position shown. in Fig. 1, and eitherbefore or after the barrel is closed upon its butt-piece the firing-pin is set by retracting the'catchpiece until engaged and locked in its retracted position by the trigger. As. the barrel is be ing forced upon its seat, the extractor by its spring action rides over and engages the shell flange, so that after firing the load and while again throwing open the sliding barrel the extractor will hold the shell against the buttpiece until the barrel has'passed beyond the forward end of the shell, when the shell may be conveniently released from the extractor and removed.

In Figs. 5 and 6 I have shown as a modification and another form of the inventionbefore described a bifurcated lever, s, the arms Instead of securing the sliding barrel to the main barrel by the dovetail blocks before deopposing sides of the stock are provided with elongated slots, through which project arms a, which are connected withthe firing-pm 1n the same manner as in the first instance,wh le the trigger is concealed within the stock except its rearwardly-project-ing end 1;.

The construction shown in 'Figs. 5 and 6 is essentially the same as in the preceding figures, except that the catch-piece has duplicateprojections or finger-pieces for setting and that the trigger is substantially concealed. The first-described construction is preferred, however, because it dispenses with any necessity of grooving out or cutting the stock, and therefore involves less labor and skill in the attachment of the supplemental barrel and its firing mechanism to the ordinary fire-arm. 7

So far as I now know I am the first to pro vide a special trigger forward of thebreech of the main barrel and having no mechanical connection with the firing mechanism of said barrel, and my invention is therefore not-11m ited to the location of said supplemental trigger at any particular point between the supplemental barrel and the trigger of the main barrel, or to the employment of such a trig- 'ger in connection with a supplemental barrel opened only by a sliding movement thereof, for in this respect my invention includes", broadly, a supplemental barrel and an independent trigger therefor at any point between said barrel andthe main barrel. Nor is my invention limited to the special formof linkand lever connection between the supplemental barrel and its breech, for it includes,

broadly, a lever pivoted to one of said mem bers and connected directly with the other member by'a pivoted link, whether said barrel slides or swings upon a pivot to throw it open.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

ICC

barrel, in combination with a trigger for the supplemental barrel ,located ata point forward supplemental barrel forward of and having no mechanical connection with the trigger of the main barrel, substantially as described. 3. The supplemental barrel, the firing-pin thereof, and a sliding catch-piece parallel with and rigidly secured to the firing-pin, and a pivoted trigger engaging said sliding catch cateli pieee parallel-with and rigidly secured anda link pivoted to'tlge side of the barrel to the firingpin, and bearing upon the butt and said lever, substantially as descnbed. f piece, and a trigger for eng' ging said catch- I LEWIS A'. STAVE. piece, substantially aedeseribed. I a g V 5. The supplemental barrel and the bulqb- Witnesses: piece thereof, in combinabionwithaswinging. W. ELLIOTT? lever pivoted to the side of theblitt-pie'ce, f 'WILLB. OMo m peo. 

